San Diego paying out nearly $1M to settle falling tree, cracked sidewalk injury suits

The payouts highlight the fact that sidewalks in many city neighborhoods are crumbling, partly because city officials neglected infrastructure for many years before reviving it as a high priority in 2014.

Some council members lobbied last year for a 90-day deadline to fix reported sidewalk damage, and for a policy change eliminating the responsibility of homeowners to share the cost of fixing damaged sidewalks next to their property.